


What A Feeling

by watyonameisgurl



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Schmoop, cute scenes with dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watyonameisgurl/pseuds/watyonameisgurl
Summary: Pete noses into his chest, blinking up at him and it’s uncanny, his ability to read Liam so well when they only just met hours ago, but again he immediately feels that sense of calm coming over him. He feels a little crazy even just considering it but he’s starting to think that maybe there’s something even more special about Pete than just how sweet and well-behaved he is.(or the au where Liam adopts Pete like he should have)





	What A Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who hasn’t seen it or just wants to relive the adorableness – [here’s the Buzzfeed video featuring Pete, the puppy who just wanted Liam to love him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7sfxf1m5k)

The ride home is quiet, which would normally make Liam uncomfortable, but something about Pete’s calming presence actually makes it feel kind of nice. Like a serene, relaxing kind of silence instead of an uncomfortable one.

Pete’s meant to be sat in the passenger seat but somewhere along the way he shuffled over the middle console to lean his head in Liam’s lap so only his bottom half is still in the seat itself but Liam doesn’t mind.

He’s a little nervous about the homecoming, this whole thing having been a split second decision made in the moment. There hadn’t really been any time for him to call and talk it over with Zayn. Once they’d finished filming at the Buzzfeed studio he’d taken one look at Pete, laid out across his chest, big eyes staring up at him, and realized he wouldn’t ever be able to forgive himself if he left there without him.

They’re just a few minutes away now from the condo he and Zayn stay at when they’re in New York and he can already feel himself getting a little nervous. He’s worried about how Zayn will react, about how the other dogs will react when they get back to the UK, if Pete will even gel well with them, reserved as he is. He hopes they don’t end up ganging up on him or leaving him out or anything, or worse, bullying him. He doesn’t think they would, but dogs can be unpredictable.

Mostly though he’s worried about Zayn. They’re supposed to be a team, that’s the vow they made to each other. So the fact that he went and made this—frankly rash and a little bit reckless—decision that’s going to affect both of their lives all on his own without even consulting Zayn has him feeling more than a little bit anxious about how Zayn will respond, how he’ll feel.

He chances a glance down at Pete who’s looking up at him with those big, sincere eyes and immediately feels himself starting to calm back down. They’ll be okay. Whatever happens, they’ll deal with it like they do everything else, talk through their options and figure it out together.

He turns into the underground car park connected to their building, pulling into one of their designated spaces and just sits there for a minute, looking down at Pete, scrubbing a hand over the fur on his back.

“Alright, little guy, time to face the music.”

Pete just blinks at him, burrowing himself further into Liam’s lap and wiggling his way under his arm as if to say _alright, let’s do this_. Liam lifts him up, cradling Pete to his chest as he gets out and makes his way across to the lift. Even though the lift moves relatively quick, the ride up feels like it takes forever as worry starts to nag at him again.

Pete noses into his chest, blinking up at him and it’s uncanny, his ability to read Liam so well when they only just met hours ago, but again he immediately feels that sense of calm coming over him. He feels a little crazy even just considering it but he’s starting to think that maybe there’s something even more special about Pete than just how sweet and well-behaved he is.

The rich smell of curry hits him the moment the lift doors open up to their penthouse suite and he steps out into the foyer, making his way around the corner to the kitchen as quietly as he can. Zayn’s at the stove, surrounded by various pots and pans, his back to Liam as he hums out a random tune.

“Hey,” Liam says tentatively, cradling Pete even closer to his chest.

“Oh hey, babe, didn’t hear you come in,” Zayn says turning to him with a pleased smile that immediately shifts into an expression of confusion when his eyes land on Pete. “Who’s this?”

“Um…this is Pete. I…sort of kind of maybe adopted him today?”

Zayn’s mouth opens and then closes and he just stares, looking back and forth from Pete to Liam as if he’s trying to work out some sort of puzzle. Liam bites his lip nervously. He feels Pete squirming a little in his arms, trying to turn to look at Zayn and Liam loosens his hold on him just enough so Pete doesn’t fall but he can still move around a little more freely.

Pete turns his steady gaze on Zayn and they just stare at each other for a moment.

“He’s cute,” Zayn finally says after a long moment of silence and Liam breathes a sigh of relief, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “I just wish you had talked to me first. I mean, I probably would’ve been okay with it either way but—”

“I know, I know,” Liam cuts in. “I’m sorry, it was just a spur of the moment sort of thing and there wasn’t really time to call. The agency was packing up to leave right after filming ended and they would’ve left with him if I didn’t make a decision right then and I just couldn’t let them take him.”

Zayn runs a hand through his hair and sighs, glancing from Pete and Liam back to the pots on the stove.

“Let’s just focus on dinner for now, yeah? We can talk more about this later.”

Liam nods, heading over to the couch with Pete still wrapped in his arms.

“Has he had anything to eat?” Zayn calls over his shoulder.

“Not since early this morning, I think,” Liam answers, scratching under Pete’s ears. Zayn pauses what he’s doing at the stove and reaches into the cupboard under the counter for the bag of dog food and the doggie bowl they keep there. At the sound of the crinkling plastic Stitch comes ambling out from the bedroom, probably having just woken up from a nap.

He sniffs at Zayn’s hands as he pours a bit of food into the bowl but Zayn shoos him away, grumbling, “No. This isn’t for you, you just ate you greedy little bugger.”

Stitch trails behind him as he carries the bowl over and sets it by Liam’s feet and immediately sniffs Pete over once Liam sets him down on the floor.

“Thanks,” Liam says, smiling softly at Zayn whose lips quirk up in a half-smile of his own.

“Course.”

Liam’s tempted to lean over and kiss him but there’s a bit of a scuffle going on by their feet and they both look down to find Stitch nosing at Pete’s middle, trying to push him away from the bowl.

“Hey, _no_.” Zayn’s voice is stern as he grabs Stitch by the sides and pulls him backwards, away from Pete. “ _No_ ,” he repeats, looking right into Stitch’s face. Stitch huffs and, once Zayn’s let him go, retreats to the corner between the wall and the edge of the couch, sulking.

Pete sits forlornly next to the bowl as if he’s afraid to eat any more and Liam lays a hand on his head.

“It’s alright, little guy, go on,” he says soothingly, urging Pete forward. “Don’t mind Stitch, he’s just being a meanie.”

Zayn hovers, watching the exchange for a moment and when Pete turns his big eyes on him he smiles and reaches a hand out to brush over his side.

“He’s a sweet one, isn’t he?”

Liam nods, smiling down at Pete as he goes back to eating, taking tentative bites out of the bowl. Zayn smiles down at him too giving him a few more gentle rubs before he stands again, eyeing Stitch sternly in the corner for a moment before heading back to the stove.

Once Pete’s had his fill he lays peacefully by Liam’s feet, chin resting on the end of his shoe and Liam doesn’t even have the heart to move him to take them off, so he just sits messing about on his phone and sneaking little glances down at him every now and then. Eventually Zayn comes over to pour some water into the empty bowl, which Pete laps up gratefully and Liam takes the opportunity to slip his shoes off quickly, inadvertently drawing Stitch back over. He sniffs at Liam’s shoes and socked feet, eyes Pete, and then lays down on the floor on Liam’s other side. After a moment Pete comes back to rest his chin on Liam’s foot again and it appears Liam is in the middle of a puppy sandwich, or his feet are anyway.

He hears the sound of a camera going off and looks across to the kitchen to find Zayn with his phone out, snickering at him. Liam giggles, striking a couple of goofy poses and Zayn snaps a few more photos before something starts bubbling madly behind him and he turns his attention back to the stove.

Later, bellies full and warm, stretched out on the couch with the dogs as they watch a random movie, Liam feels Zayn tense up as his phone lights up with a text. Liam can’t quite make out the details but he doesn’t need to when he sees whose name is at the top of the screen. Zayn stuffs his phone in between the couch cushion and the arm of the chair in an irritated huff and in the next second Pete’s shuffling over Liam’s lap and into Zayn’s, head bowed as if to ask if this is okay.

Zayn looks down in surprise but Liam can already feel him immediately relaxing, all the tension going out of his shoulders and Liam’s never been able to calm him down that fast, never known anyone who could. Not even Trisha. Zayn may have gotten a better handle on things over the years, but it still doesn’t take much for him to get in his moods. And while Liam’s generally pretty good at bringing him out of them most of the time, prides himself on it even, he’s never been able to bring him out of one so quickly or see him visibly relax so easily, like everything that happened before that moment has just been completely forgotten.

Liam can’t do anything but blink at him, stunned.

“What?” Zayn says turning to him, brows wrinkled in confusion.

Liam shakes his head. “Nothing, I’ve just…never seen you calm down like that so quickly.”

“Oh. Guess I just got distracted by this little guy.” Zayn smiles sweetly down at Pete, petting a hand gently over his head and Pete looks up at Zayn with those big, solemn eyes.

“Yeah…distracted,” Liam repeats in a bit of a daze as he watches them.

~

It becomes a bit of a thing, Pete calming them down whenever one of them gets upset or anxious. He’ll plop himself right in one of their laps or come nuzzle his head against one of their legs until they pick him up and it’s an almost instant sense of calm the moment he’s near. Like someone reached in and snatched the thing that was bothering them right out of their minds and they can breathe easy.

“So,” Liam says, dropping into bed one night after a particularly exhausting day of promo and stupid pap walks with flowers, face half buried in Zayn’s shoulder.

“So,” Zayn repeats sleepily. He’s had a long day himself, a full morning of unnecessary photo-taking in a ridiculous amount of outfits all over an apartment he doesn’t even live in, followed by a seven hour flight back to the UK. Liam’s just glad to finally have him back home, even if it’s short-lived.

“Are we ever gonna talk about the fact that our new dog has superpowers?”

Zayn’s quiet for a long time, so long Liam assumes he must have fallen asleep until the silence is suddenly interrupted by a loud burst of laughter.

“I thought _I_ was the one that was supposed to be jet-lagged?” Zayn teases.

“Shut up. I’m serious,” Liam says into his shoulder, shoving at him half-heartedly.

“You’re serious about our dog having superpowers? Are you _sure_ you’re not jet-lagged? Or delirious from exhaustion maybe?”

Liam sits up, balancing his weight on his elbow to peer curiously at Zayn. “You’re seriously telling me you’ve never found it odd how he can just calm both of us down so easily when we’re upset? Like he just comes right over and whatever it was is just – poof, gone, not a care in the world.”

“Huh. No, you’ve got a point,” he agrees, expression contemplative. “Guess I just never put together that it was only happening with him since usually when he’s there, you’re there too. But now that you mention it, I guess it has happened a few times when you weren’t there as well. I think up to now I’ve just kind of been chalking it up to him being such a good distraction cause he’s cute and sweet, but you’re right, it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

“Sure seems so.”

“It’s funny though…he reminds me a bit of you, you know. Early days, I mean. Before we corrupted you. All big, innocent eyes and too sweet for his own good.” Zayn laughs, poking Liam in the cheek and Liam bats his hand away, giggling too.

“You’re such a sap.”

Zayn raises an eyebrow. “Pot calling the kettle black, innit?”

“Oh, shut it,” Liam says, smiling. “Anyway, aren’t we meant to be talking about Pete and his superpowers?”

“Mmm, we’ll have to rename him, won’t we? Pete the Wonderdog,” he says with a grin, arm splayed out in front of him as if he’s presenting a sign. “Forget singing, we can start a street show. Travel the world healing people’s ailments one puppy snuggle at a time. Bet we’d make a killing, what d’you reckon?”

Liam grins back. “I’m game if you are. We can charge ten pounds a snuggle, twenty in the posh neighborhoods.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Zayn reaches over for a fist bump but instead of returning it Liam catches it in his hand, pulling Zayn in close to press a kiss to his nose.

“ _Now_ who’s the sap?” Zayn quips.

There’s a soft, jingling sound from over by the door and as if on cue, Pete pokes his little head in, looking up at them questioningly.

“Aww, come on, buddy,” Liam says, beckoning him over with a hand and then lifting him up once he reaches Liam’s side of the bed, still too small to jump up that high on his own. “You heard us talking about you, eh?”

He plops Pete on Zayn’s chest and Zayn makes an mmphf sound even though Pete barely weighs anything.

“Drama Queen,” Liam teases.

“It’s not nice to talk about yourself that way you know, Liam.”

Liam rolls his eyes, but goes back to lying on Zayn’s shoulder and it’s not long before Zayn’s asleep underneath him, chest rising and falling steadily with each breath even with Pete still laid across him. Liam’s exhausted but somehow still can’t seem to get to sleep no matter how hard he tries. His brain seems to be running a mile a minute, replaying the events of the day for no reason like it likes to do on occasion. Sleep’s never come quite as easily to him as it does to Zayn and sometimes Liam finds himself envying Zayn’s ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat practically anywhere.

But apparently that’s not a problem when you have a super-powered dog to come to your rescue because no sooner has Liam huffed out a frustrated breath before Pete is blinking his big eyes open and shifting over to tuck himself under Liam’s arm.

Liam feels that familiar sense of calm wash over him and settles back into Zayn’s side, already feeling more relaxed and at peace than he was just a moment ago. He breathes in deep, tucking Pete closer to his chest and closing his eyes. He’s asleep within minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos feed my soul :)


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